Terrebonne budget hearing is Dec. 5

Terrebonne Parish will hold a Dec. 5 public hearing on its 2013 budget of $203 million, up about 4 percent from this year’s $196 million spending plan.

Chance RyanStaff Writer

Terrebonne Parish will hold a Dec. 5 public hearing on its 2013 budget of $203 million, up about 4 percent from this year’s $196 million spending plan.The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Government Tower in Houma. The new budget aims to improve the parish’s roads, drainage and coastal-restoration efforts.Parish officials cite higher sales-tax revenue this year and an increase in property-tax money next year for the ability to spend more, parish comptroller Donald Picou said.Parish President Michel Claudet anticipates the parish will see a 7 percent increase in sales-tax revenue this year. About $80 million would be collected compared to $75 million in 2011.“The sales tax increase has to do with our area unemployment rate being one of the lowest in the state, if not the lowest,” Picou said. “With that, people are able to spend their money.”Houma-Thibodaux’s unemployment rate inched up slightly from 4.2 percent in September to 4.3 in October, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. The parish trails only Lafayette for the lowest jobless rate among Louisiana’s eight metro areas. Lafayette’s rate was 4.2 percent.Parish employees got a 3 percent raise last year but will not receive raises in 2013, Claudet said. “We don’t give a raise to employees every year,” he said.Employees also could pay higher costs for health insurance in the coming year because there were costly health-related payouts this year, Claudet said.“That’s something we are still deliberating,” Claudet said. The parish pays 85 percent of employee premiums and employees pay 15 percent.Some of the major projects in the budget include $500,000 to repave Thompson Road from La. 56 to La. 57, $2.8 million for Bayou LaCarpe drainage improvements and $447,000 for repairs to the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center roof.Also in the budget are plans to set aside $630,000 for a skate park and $100,000 for public-safety programs that include spending $25,000 for crime cameras in Houma.About $3.3 million will go toward coastal-restoration projects.

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